1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a reactor and a method for manufacturing a reactor.
2. Background Art
It has been a conventional practice to produce a desired reaction product by reacting a first reactant and a second reactant with each other while permitting the flows of the both reactants held into contact. For example, a reactor provided with a channel forming body internally formed with a Y-shaped channel is used for the production of such a product. Specifically, in the channel forming body of this reactor, a Y-shaped groove is formed in one surface of one base plate and an opening of this Y-shaped groove is sealed by another base plate placed on the one surface of the base plate to form a channel. This channel is comprised of a first inlet path extending in a specified direction, a second inlet path extending in a direction different from the first inlet path, and a reaction channel connected with downstream sides of the both inlet paths. A first reactant is introduced into the first inlet path, whereas a second reactant is introduced into the second inlet path. Both of these two reactants flow into the reaction channel and, thereafter, react with each other while flowing in the reaction channel.
In recent years, it has been hoped to integrate many channels in a reactor for an improvement in the productivity of a product. In the case of integrating Y-shaped channels as above, it is thought to form many Y-shaped channels side by side along the above base plate in the channel forming body by forming many Y-shaped grooves side by side in the base plate. However, in this case, a large space is necessary for each channel because the first and second inlet paths of each channel extend in different directions, with the result that there is a limit in integrating the channels.